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The negative impacts of the Great Recession (GR) (2007 to 2009) on the lives of families with low incomes warrant social work concerns about how well antipoverty policy responded to meet economic needs over this period and since. Given America’s long-standing tension between welfare state adequacy and market-oriented policies, how well did the safety net respond to the economic downturn? Did GR-era changes reverse or accelerate trends in public assistance? This article examines key policy changes and indicators of caseloads, inclusion, and generosity for three antipoverty policies: the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamp Program), and the Earned Income Tax Credit from 2007 to 2017. Authors’ analysis shows a continuation of market-oriented U.S. antipoverty policy. Authors argue that the reemphasis of conditioning benefits on employment undermines the countercyclical feature of the social safety net and perpetuates the inequitable redistribution of public resources between those inside and outside of the labor market. Authors discuss social workers’ role in strengthening antipoverty policies to improve the economic well-being of people with low incomes and the economic justice of the social safety net.

Worldwide neoliberal policies are transforming the landscape of social work. Studies have shown that these policies increased social workers’ caseloads, regulated welfare expenditures, impaired public services’ capabilities to attend to the needs of growing demand, transformed social services delivery by implanting new public management methods, and often also worsened working conditions and deteriorated the professional status of social workers. Moreover, these policies have raised both poverty and inequality levels and left their negative marks on social work education, by prioritizing academic disciplines more attuned with the needs of neoliberal regimes. This article seeks to encourage schools of social work, social workers in the social services, and people living in poverty to challenge the harmful impact of this context by engaging in meaningful alliances focused on the fight against poverty and social exclusion. This article presents a long-term partnership project between a school of social work, local public social services, and groups of active clients, to tackle the issue of poverty in Israel. The article describes the project, introduces the theoretical and methodological principles, analyzes achievements and challenges, and finally discusses the potential contribution of such partnerships for the future of the profession.

As defined by the International Federation of Social Workers, social work is a human rights profession. This is explicitly stated in the professional codes of ethics in many nations. However, the most recent version of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers continues to exclude any mention of human rights, fitting in with the history of U.S. exceptionalism on this subject. Social workers around the world have a long history of working for the achievement of human rights, including an explicit grounding of practice in human rights principles: human dignity, nondiscrimination, participation, transparency, and accountability. Utilizing these principles, U.S. social workers can move from the deficit model of the needs-based approach to competently contextualizing individual issues in their larger human rights framework. In this way, social work can address larger social problems and make way for the concurrent achievement of human rights. This article explains these principles and provides a case example of how to apply them in practice.

This article examines financial capability among low-income older Asian immigrants, using data from in-depth interviews with 13 participants in a subsidized employment program in Los Angeles. Overall, respondents present a portrait of economic insecurity. Qualitative analyses indicate that respondents perceived little need to improve their financial knowledge and management skills because they had “no money to manage.” Most respondents lacked either financial knowledge or financial management skills, which resulted in substantial financial losses among some respondents. Mistrust of financial institutions (“Banks are always vampires”) and other financial barriers (for example, lack of credit history) blocked respondents’ access to formal financial services. In some cases, ethnic financial resources (for example, ethnic banks) reduced the effects of such barriers. There is evidence that respondent financial knowledge and management skills may improve after opening a bank account, suggesting a potential role for financial access in expanding financial capability. Findings demonstrate the importance of financial capability–building interventions for low-income older Asian immigrants. Social workers should be equipped with financial literacy and in-depth understanding of financial needs, perceptions, values, behaviors, and resources of this population.

Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are often portrayed as helpless victims. Yet many women who experience IPV implement strategies to help them survive the abuse. This qualitative study sought to explore the survivor strategies used by low-income black women who experience IPV. Authors used a semistructured interview guide to survey 26 survivors who reported being in an IPV relationship in the past two years. Thematic analysis revealed three types of survivor strategies used by low-income black women: (1) internal (use of religion and becoming self-reliant), (2) interpersonal (leave the abuser or fight back), and (3) external (reliance on informal, formal, or both kinds of sources of support). This article informs social work practitioners of the strategies used by low-income black women in surviving IPV so that practitioners can develop interventions that support these strategies.

A lack of financial capability—financial opportunities and abilities—and poverty are highly interlinked. Over 65 percent of people in India are excluded from any financial services. This article explores income-poor Indians’ experiences with financial capability through a qualitative study. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from 658 individuals, through focus groups (n = 566) and face-to-face interviews (n = 92). Findings show that 97 percent of respondents had the opportunity to earn an income, and 55 percent earned through financial inclusion programs, but 87 percent of respondents earned less than U.S. $2 a day. Although almost all saved and needed to borrow, 46 percent were eligible for formal savings and only 23 percent for formal loans. Financial abilities or knowledge and skills related to income, savings, and loans were higher among the few who had a stable income or had medium and high income in relation to those who had unstable and low income. Respondents experienced many challenges with their financial capabilities, including borrowing to save, fearing formal loans, and lacking clarity about loan and interest rate; banks miscalculating interest rates; and political parties influencing access to loans. Implications for social policy and social work practice are discussed.

Lower-income millennials make important financial decisions that may affect their future financial well-being. With limited resources, this population is at risk for acquiring too much debt or being unprepared for a financial emergency that can send them further into poverty and constrain their ability to leverage resources for future economic mobility. A financial capability approach, an intervention that combines financial education with financial inclusion through the use of a savings account, may correlate with millennials’ healthy financial behaviors. This study used data from the 2012 National Financial Capability Study to examine the relationship between financial capability and the financial behaviors of lower-income millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 years (N = 2,578). Compared with those lower-income millennials who were financially excluded, those who were financially capable were also 171 percent more likely to afford an unexpected expense, 182 percent more likely to save for emergencies, and 34 percent less likely to carry too much debt, relating to their greater overall financial satisfaction. The findings of this study indicate that interventions that develop lower-income millennials’ financial capability may be effective for promoting healthy financial behaviors.

Social workers are leaders in the substance abuse services field and may often work in substance use disorder (SUD) education, prevention, assessment, treatment, or resource coordination and case management roles. As the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (2010) drives changes in the fields of health and behavioral health, social workers have an opportunity to lead structural changes at the micro and macro levels that will have a positive impact on low-income clients with SUDs. In this article, authors examine the current state of SUDs and health care access, the impact of the ACA on the field, and implications for social work practice and education. Social workers should seek specialized education and credentialing in SUD services, know how to help clients apply for health care coverage, and advocate for integrated substance abuse treatment and health care programs and an expansion of Medicaid in their local communities. Social workers are well positioned to be a voice for clients to ensure that the current structural changes result in a better, integrated system of care that is able to respond to the needs of low-income clients with SUDs.

This article describes an empowerment approach for working with diverse women who experience poverty, trauma, and multiple structural oppressions. The approach is the result of 20 years of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating this practice in a metropolitan community, and is grounded in women's empowerment theory and relational-cultural theory. The interventions combine social work's clinical interventions with community organizing strategies to promote personal and collective empowerment, supporting the "personal is political" tenet of feminist practice. The interventions, including nonclinical interviews, story circles, and leadership and advocacy education and training, can guide practitioners in providing services and programs that create a space for women to make changes in their personal lives and in their community. Program outcomes report successful changes for women in improving symptoms, increasing self-efficacy, and engaging in community advocacy. Women who participated also reported an increased sense of power, balancing commonality and difference among women, and a sense of hope for their future.

African American adolescents are disproportionately represented in urban public housing developments. These neighborhoods are generally characterized by high rates of poverty, crime, violence, and disorganization. Although evidence is emerging on youths in these communities, little is known about their depressive symptoms, perceived efficacy, or frequency of substance use and sex-risk behavior. Further, even less is known about their exposure to community and household violence, their parents' behavior, or their sense of connection to their communities. Using a sample of 782 African American adolescents living in public housing neighborhoods located in four large U.S. cities, this article attempts to rectify the observed gap in knowledge by presenting a descriptive overview of their self-reported depressive symptoms; self-efficacy; frequencies of delinquent and sexual-risk behavior; and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. The self-reported ratings of their parents' behavior as well as their exposure to community and household violence are presented. Analytic procedures include descriptive statistics and mean comparisons between genders and across research cities. Results suggest several differences between genders and across research sites. However, results are not very different from national data. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

School social workers and other school personnel can find meeting the educational and social needs of immigrant children a challenge, particularly if these children are also experiencing poverty and other educational barriers, including limited English language proficiency. Quality after-school programming has been associated with a variety of positive effects such as increased educational attainment and positive social and emotional development and could, therefore, prove significant in the lives of immigrant children. Yet, immigrant children participate less. The purpose of this article is to discuss ways in which school social workers can increase enrollment in after-school programming among immigrant children, six to 12 years of age, by becoming both advocates for children and families and leaders in developing and maintaining these services. School social workers are poised to play a number of roles related to practice, administration, research, and policy. Because this particular age group of children begins to look beyond the family for guidance and support, middle childhood is an opportune time for school social workers to work toward involving children in positive after-school experiences.

Farmworkers experience pervasive economic insecurity in part because of the seasonal nature of agricultural work and limited employment protections. Yet little is known about the adequacy of the social safety net in responding to farmworker needs. Using data from the 2005-2009 National Agricultural Workers Survey (N = 10,469), the current study analyzed predictors of social welfare participation among Latinos, who represent approximately 80 percent of all farmworkers. Nearly 95 percent are immigrants, although almost half of them have lived in the United States for more than 10 years. Descriptive analyses showed that, even among farmworker households whose income fell below the poverty line or that were headed by legally documented individuals, social services use was very low. Logistic regression analyses revealed that degree of social integration influenced social welfare participation, controlling for education, poverty status, family composition, and employment characteristics. Latino farmworkers who were recent immigrants (that is, in the United States for less than five years) had significantly lower odds of access to social insurance and public assistance programs relative to their U.S.-born counterparts. Low self-reported English ability significantly decreased access to most social insurance programs but not public assistance receipt. The findings indicate the need for social workers to engage in outreach efforts and policy advocacy to improve farmworkers access to social welfare.

Using social justice as the conceptual foundation, the authors present the structural barriers to socially just intercountry adoptions (ICAs) that can exploit and oppress vulnerable children and families participating in ICAs. They argue that such practices threaten the integrity of social work practice in that arena and the survival of ICA as a placement option. Government structures, disparity of power between countries and families on both sides, perceptions regarding poverty, cultural incompetence, misconceptions about orphans and orphanages, lack of knowledge about the impact of institution-based care, and the profit motive are driving forces behind the growing shadow of unethical ICAs. The U.S. social work community has a large role and responsibility in addressing these concerns as the United States receives the most children adopted through ICAs of all receiving countries. In addition to the centrality of social justice as a core value of the profession, the responsibility to carry out ethical and socially just ICA has recently increased as a matter of law, under the implementation legislation to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. While acknowledging that these issues are complex, authors provide suggestions for corrective policy and practice measures.

A major portion of social work practice worldwide consists of the provision of services to people with needs and problems associated with living in poverty (Elliott, 1997; Healy, 2001; Hokenstad, Khinduka, & Midgley, 1992; Jones, 2002). These problems include insufficient financial resources to meet basic needs, underaccess to social goods; marginalization, oppression, and social exclusion; and feelings of shame, humiliation, and powerlessness (Beresford, Green, Lister, & Woodward, 1999; Lister, 2004). Among the factors that influence this practice are the perceptions of poverty and its causes that are held by a wide range of actors, including the general public and media, politicians, social and economic policymakers, social services management and supervisors, and social workers and service users themselves (Alcock, 1997; Bullock, 1995). The coming together of the various perceptions of the multiple actors creates a complex social discourse on poverty (Lister, 2004). This discourse not only shapes public perceptions of those living in poverty and the policies adopted toward them but also determines the contours of the professional encounter between social workers and service users who are living in poverty. It influences how social workers and their clients understand and define problems and the relevant strategies and intervention approaches for dealing with them (Bullock, 1995; Parsloe, 1990). Given the centrality of poverty and of the interaction between social work practitioners and service users to social work and its practice, this article explores social workers' and service users' attributions of the causes of poverty, with the aim of determining whether the participants in this interaction have similar views. ATTRIBUTIONS OF THE CAUSES OF POVERTY The etiology of poverty has been the subject of a long, ongoing debate in both public and academic spheres (Alcock, 1997; Danziger & Haveman, 2001; Lister, 2004; Miller, 1996). Three main types of causal attributions of poverty can be discerned in the theoretical and empirical literature: individualistic, structural, and fatalistic (Alcock, 1997; Bullock, Williams, & Limbert, 2003; Miller, 1996; Zucker & Weiner, 1993). The individualistic attribution argues that poverty stems mainly from the personality and behaviors of the poor. Based on a pathological model of social causation, it has moral and psychological variants. The moral variant emphasizes such individual deficits as lack of motivation, effort, and initiative; passivity, dependency, and lack of self-reliance; lack of job readiness; poor work habits; and (erroneous) perceptions of external constraints to finding and holding a job (Mead, 1992, 1994; Murray, 1984). The psychological variant emphasizes the intrapersonal origins of poverty: emotional problems (for example, depression) or lack of interpersonal abilities (Alcock, 1997). The structural attribution regards poverty as stemming from the complex operations of local, national, and global forces, which include the actions of classes, groups, agencies, and institutions that interact within a particular social and economic order (Cornia, 2004; Ferge & Miller, 1987; Lang, 2007; Nissanke & Thorbecke, 2007; Wilson, 1987, 2006). Based on a structural model of social causation, it emphasizes forces such as globalization and international economic forces; the capitalist market economy and specific economic policies; limited employment opportunities stemming from local geographic, physical, or economic conditions; low wages and limited demand for or oversupply of low-skilled labor; insufficient social welfare provision and social protection; and lack of political power and systematic discrimination and deprivation on the basis of class, race, ethnicity, or gender. The fatalistic attribution explains poverty through factors over which neither the individual nor the society has much control. These factors include fate and bad luck, inborn lack of ability or talent, and disability and illness, among many other unfortunate circumstances (Cozzarelli, Wilkinson, & Tagler, 2001; Zucker & Weiner, 1993). …

Trends in social welfare policy and programs place increasing expectations on families to provide members with various forms of material and socioemotional support. The historic ability of kin networks of many African Americans to provide such support has been compromised by long-term community and family poverty. The potential mismatch between the expectations of social welfare systems for kin support and the actual functional capacities of kin networks places African Americans living in poverty at great risk of chronic poverty and its long-term multiple consequences. This article reviews historical and contemporary research on the structure and function of African American kin networks. On the basis of evidence of functional decline, the authors argue that social workers must re-examine the a priori assumption of viable kin networks as a reliable source of resilience among African Americans living in poverty. Social workers must focus assessment at all levels of practice on a variety of aspects of kin networks to make accurate judgments about not only the availability of resources, but also the perceived costs and benefits of participation in exchange for resources.

Despite the lack of consensus about its I meaning, "empowerment" is a widely used term in social work and other human service professions. It is a key concept in social work and over the past few years has become an important concept in work with disadvantaged and disenfranchised populations. Some describe it as a process. For others it is an outcome or goal, and still others view it as a form of intervention (Dunst, Trivette, & LaPointe, 1992; Gutierrez, DeLois, & GlenMaye, 1995). Because empowerment takes place in different forms, on different levels, and within a variety of contexts and situations, Rappaport (1981) contended, "Empowerment [needs to be] viewed ... as a process of infinite variety" (p. 3). The Social Work Dictionary defines empowerment as "the process of helping individuals, families, groups, and communities increase their personal, interpersonal, socioeconomic, and political strength and develop influence toward improving their circumstances" (Barker, 2003, p. 142). The emphasis in most definitions of the concept is "directed at influencing a sense of control over important life events" (Dunst et al., p. 12). Although many in the social work profession have written about empowerment, few have offered a description of the empowerment process from the perspective of frontline workers in high-risk communities. How do frontline workers enact empowerment principles in their everyday work environments? What do these workers perceive to be the challenges in implementing empowerment interventions with disadvantaged populations? What strategies do they employ to overcome or address individual and situational challenges to the empowerment process? This article examines these questions on the basis of findings from a 2001-2004 qualitative study of the implementation of the Casey Family Resource Center Initiative in four of Casey Family Services divisions. FAMILY RESOURCE CENTERS Comer and Fraser (1998) suggested that family resource and support centers are distinguished from other programs by their consumer perspective. They tend to emphasize family participation based on joint decision making between families and service providers. Family resource centers embrace a prevention orientation and emphasize social support, empowerment, and skill development. Most family resource centers have an additional goal: improving the health, safety, and general well-being of children. Family resource centers, like those being developed by Casey Family Services, "are mandated to reach a wide spectrum of families representing a diverse set of needs and strengths" (O'Donnell & Giovannoni, 2000, p. 72). Effective family resource programs may also have systemic goals, such as helping to initiate, develop, or improve interagency cooperation, promoting joint service initiatives, enhancing social supports for families, and increasing family economic self-sufficiency--the latter two of which were prominent goals for the Casey Family Resource Centers. The Casey Family Services Family Resource Center Initiative used empowerment interventions to provide mental health services, child and recreational activities, parent services, educational programs, and other skill training. Casey's Family Resource Center (FRC) programming began in 1999 in four of its seven divisions. (Although all seven of its divisions embraced the FRC initiative, only four had begun implementing the model when this study was conducted.) The sites and program models of these four centers differed slightly. One was located in a school setting in rural New Hampshire, another in two public housing development sites in a small New England town, and another in a midsize urban mid-Atlantic city. Population size, racial composition of the community, and poverty levels among families differed. Although three of these centers were embedded in host settings and one was a freestanding center, frontline staff had similar experiences while engaging in empowerment practices. …

The disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minority children in the child welfare system concerns many child welfare professionals. Few studies have investigated how neighborhood processes may contribute to this disparity. This study examined how neighborhood characteristics are associated with rates of child maltreatment for black, Hispanic, and white children. Spatial regression procedures were used to analyze data from 940 census tracts in California. For black children, higher rates of poverty and higher densities of off-premise alcohol outlets were positively associated with maltreatment rates, but increases in population since 1990, a higher percentage of residents who had moved, and a higher percentage of black residents were associated with lower rates. Percentage of female-headed families, poverty, and unemployment were positively related to maltreatment rates among Hispanic children. For white children, the percentage of elderly people, percentage of poverty, ratio of children to adults, and percentage of Hispanic residents were positively associated with neighborhood rates. Reducing neighborhood poverty may reduce rates of child maltreatment for all children, but additional efforts to prevent maltreatment at the neighborhood level may need to be tailored to the specific demographic characteristics to be most effective. Language: en

When disability is defined on the basis of functional limitations in mobility, self-care, communication, or learning, children with disabilities represent approximately 12.3 percent of the population of children ages 5 to 17 in the United States (Hogan, Msall, Rogers, & Avery 1997) or approximately 6.55 million children in 2000 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Children with disabilities are significantly more likely to live in poverty than other children. Twenty-eight percent of children with disabilities lived in households with income below the federal poverty level compared with 16 percent of children without disabilities (Fujiura & Yamaki, 2000). The purpose of this article is to provide a critical review and analysis of the constellation of factors that affect the financial well-being of young children with disabilities and their families. Children with disabilities are a significant proportion of the general child population, and social workers encounter these children and their families across an array of practice domains, including health and mental health settings, schools, social services agencies, and the disability service system. Social workers who understand these families' circumstances can provide responsive services to this vulnerable population. For children, generally, living in poverty is associated with a host of adverse consequences, including poor physical health, diminished cognitive abilities, emotional and behavioral problems, and reduced educational attainment (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). But there is mounting concern that poverty has more deleterious effects for children with disabilities than it does for typically developing children (Park, Turnbull, & Turnbull, 2002). The causes of increased poverty among children with disabilities are not well understood (Fujiura & Yamaki, 2000), but children's financial well-being in the general population is directly related to parental employment (Lichter & Eggebeen, 1994). Parental employment is possible when an array of factors converge--available jobs, suitable and affordable child care, transportation, and sufficient skills and training to permit a parent to compete in the workforce. Among families with typically developing children, these preconditions of employment are well documented and relatively well understood (Blau, 1998; Waldfogel, 1997). But how do these circumstances differ for families of children with disabilities? FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE FAMILIES' FINANCIAL WELL-BEING The following factors are associated with or influence families' financial well-being: the elevated costs of caregiving for children with disabilities, income transfer programs, employment for parents of children with disabilities, and its associated complements--child care and leave time (Ferber & Nelson, 1993; General Accounting Office [GAO], 1999; Waldfogel, 1997, 2001). Elevated Costs of Caregiving A limited number of empirical studies of the economic implications of having a child with disabilities have explored the financial expenses associated with caregiving. Unfortunately, much of the research was conducted in the 1980s and early 1990s, and the costs of caregiving may be somewhat different today. However, the existing research provides a stark depiction of the underlying cost differences between raising children with and without disabilities. Researchers have attempted to estimate the incremental costs attributable to the care needs of children with disabilities, in excess of the care needs of children without disabilities of the same age (for example, Newachek & McManus, 1988). Other efforts have estimated out-of-pocket costs for children with disabilities or chronic health conditions (for example, Birenbaum, Guyot, & Cohen, 1990; Fujiura, Roccoforte, & Braddock, 1994). Both types of inquiries have found that families incur dramatic monetary costs to meet their children's impairment-related expenses. …

This article documents the prevalence and national profile of American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, based on data from the American Community Survey/Census 2000 Supplementary Survey. In 2000 there were estimated to be nearly 53,000 AI/AN grandparent caregivers age 45 and older in the United States. Almost half of the caregiving grandparents had been raising a grandchild for five years or longer. The findings reveal a portrait of grandparents committed to raising their grandchildren despite the fact that many were living in extreme poverty, with ill health, and with limited resources and services. One-third of grandparent caregivers were living below the poverty line, and only one-quarter of these were receiving public assistance. Even when compared with their noncaregiving AI/AN peers, grandparents raising grandchildren were disproportionately female, poor, living with a functional disability, and living in overcrowded conditions. Implications for social work practice are presented and recommendations for policy and research are discussed.

In the new century, social work is confronted with a global system in which the world's people are bound together in a complex web of economic relationships. People's lives are now linked to lives of distant others through the clothes that they wear, the energy that warms them, and even the food that they eat. What are the institutions of this new global economy and are they just and equitable? We are compelled to once again consider the perennial themes of social justice, exploitation, and privilege, but this time as they relate to an economic system of unprecedented scope. With regard to social justice issues, the NASW Code of Ethics (2000) leaves no doubt about a global mandate. Whereas the term "global" was not used in earlier versions, the current code states "social workers should promote the general welfare of society, from local to global levels ... [including] social, economic, political, and cultural values and institutions that ate compatible with the realization of social justice" [italics added] (pp. 26-27). This explicit extension of ethical responsibility beyond national boundaries flows naturally from the core value of "human dignity and worth" that is at the heart of our professional identity. Moreover, such a worldwide orientation is consistent with the work of numerous and often prominent social workers who have worked on peace and global social justice issues throughout the history of the profession (Van Soest, 1995). What then are the structures of privilege, exploitation, and resource distribution inherent in the new global economy? This question is best approached by first noting critical antecedents. Colonialism--Precursor of the Current Global Economy Beginning in the late 1400s and continuing until the middle of the 20th century, European countries, most notably England, Spain, Portugal, France, and the Netherlands, exploited the peoples and resources in the areas of the world now commonly referred to as the "Global South." Colonies of both expansion and exploitation were established in places such as South and Central America, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and India, and in the 19th century, Africa. Much of the current geopolitical map is actually the product of this history of European colonialism. Whether Europeans migrated to particular colonies or simply maintained control by establishing puppet governments of a local military presence, colonialism generally aimed at one goal: the movement of local commodities and resources toward the Europeans and the exploitation of indigenous people for labor or, in other cases, social marginalization or elimination. In other words, colonialism established a historical context of severe class polarization as well as a precedent for the exploitation of indigenous people and their resources in the countries of the Global South (E. Goldsmith, 1996; Magdoff, 1978; Weaver, 2000). Colonial domination was often justified through a belief in the superiority of Europeans over the indigenous populations. At its worst, this rationale, which was racist as well as ethnocentric, was used to justify the slave trade and genocide. In less severe variations, Europeans envisioned themselves as "civilizing" their subjects, who, we should note, were virtually always not white. In general, colonialism involved a powerful belief in European entitlement and superiority as well as an unabashed racist orientation that was used to justify centuries of wholesale exploitation (Moussa, 2000). Although some colonies became independent of direct European control during the 19th century, the full scope of direct domination came to an end in the years after World War II. During that time, the remaining colonized countries of the Global South experienced the emergence of military coups, dictators, and other varieties of autocratic governments. With few and fleeting exceptions, the independent governments of the Global South were undemocratic in origin and patently corrupt. …

One of the most significant consequences of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (P. L. 104-193) was its impact on the decades-old partnership between the state and the voluntary sector. It affected relationships among nonprofit organizations as well as those between nonprofit agencies and public welfare departments (Bloom, 1997; Burt, Pindus, & Gapizzano, 2000; Cnaan, Wineburg, & Boddie, 1999). Little research has assessed how the legislation affected the patterns of interorganizational relationships that have emerged among providers (Allen & Kirby, 2000; Besharov, Germanis, & Rossi, 1997; Hassett & Austin, 1997; Perlmutter, 1997). Most recent research on the organizational effects of PRWORA has focused on public agencies (Carnochan & Austin, 1999), with only a few studies examining its effects on private nonprofit organizations (Alexander, 2000; Withorn, 1999). Research on community well-being, however, has long established the importance of organizational infrastructure at the neighborhood level (Etzioni, 1996; Figueira-McDonough, 1995; Warren, 1970). Other research has revealed how changes in nonprofits' external environment produce new patterns of intraorganizational behavior and interorganizational relationships, including alternative resource development strategies and the creation or expansion of collaboratives and networks (Alexander; Bischoff, 2001; Bischoff & Reisch, 2000; Bielefeld & Scotch, 1998; Reitan, 1998). Frameworks for analyzing the degree of competition or cooperation among nonprofits often assume that alterations in the political-economic environment are reflected in the nature of their interorganizational ties (Bailey & Koney, 1996; Bardach, 1998; Withorn, 1999). Research on such relationships is critical at this juncture because of the unforeseen consequences of welfare devolution (Baker & Doorne-Huiskes, 1999; Bielefeld, 1996; Brown, 1997; Young, 1999). These consequences include an increase in the demand for nonprofits' services, particularly emergency services, even as welfare caseloads have declined since the mid-1990s (Brunner, 1996; DiPadova, 2000; Eisinger, 1999; Withorn). Building on this research-which appears to reflect a shift in responsibility for social support from the public to the nonprofit sector, we analyzed the effect of PRWORA on interorganizational relationships among 90 nonprofit human services organizations in two counties in southeast Michigan. We hypothesized that a policy change of this magnitude was likely to alter the pattern of interorganizational relationships among nonprofit human services agencies, particularly those that serve low-income populations (Abramovitz, 2002; Bischoff, 2001). Welfare and Welfare Reform in Michigan The state of Michigan passed several significant welfare reforms before the 1996 federal changes. To some extent Michigan's reforms served as one of the models for PRWORA. Beginning in 1992, four years before the passage of PRWORA, the state shifted the emphasis of its welfare policies from entitlement to personal responsibility. As a result nonprofits in Michigan have had more time than their counterparts in most other states to acclimate to the changes produced by welfare reform. The findings from this study may, therefore, underestimate the effect of PRWORA on nonprofits in other states, because the data collected used 1996 as the baseline year. The agencies in this study were drawn from two adjacent, yet very different, counties in southeastern Michigan. Wayne County (population about 2.1 million, dominated by the city of Detroit) is much more populous and demographically diverse than Washtenaw County (population about 323,000), which comprises smaller cities such as Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and some rural areas (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). The proportion of Wayne County's African American population is more than three times that of Washtenaw County (42 percent compared with 12 percent); Washtenaw County has considerably higher median household income ($51,286 compared with $35,357) and substantially lower rates of poverty (8. …

This article examines the methods and dynamics of packaging multiple sources of wage and nonwage income as a means of making ends meet over a 10-year period among a sample of displaced steelworkers who lost jobs as a result of plant closings in the 1980s and then experienced extensive downward mobility. The study tracked changes in the respondents' income and employment over a decade, the dynamics of their use of social services, their pooling of a variety of income sources, and the use of social assistance to supplement low wages. The study found that among this sample income packaging was a universal economic strategy and that use of social services did not affect later employment and earnings.

Reported increases in demand at local food pantries and soup kitchens and the proliferation of additional sites to meet that demand have raised the issue of the adequacy of the response to hunger in this country (Second Harvest, 1998). This article examines this issue by presenting information on individuals who use emergency food relief (EFR) programs to supplement their food needs. The data are from an ongoing study of people receiving food assistance services from food pantries and soup kitchens in Virginia. The article presents descriptive demographic and employment information to assess why these people are seeking food assistance, what other economic risks they experience, and their potential for long-term dependence on emergency food assistance The article also examines these respondents' use of the food stamp program (FSP)--the major federal nutrition program that serves people who are poor. The FSP is intended to help households buy a nutritionally adequate diet; thus, it should serve as an ongoing s afety net for low-income house-holds. However, increases in emergency food assistance use suggest that the FSP may not be meeting the food needs of many households. The article concludes with suggestions for social work interventions to address issues of food security. Nutritional well-being for vulnerable individuals and families, although not directly the focus of social work practice, is an important component of healthy biopsychosocial functioning and results in challenges for practice and policy. Hunger and the U.S. Response Despite a strong economy, anecdotal evidence and ongoing studies reveal that hunger continues to be experienced by millions of people in the United States--a "food rich" country by all standards (Eisinger, 1996; "Hunger rising," 1998; Pugh, 1998; Rivera, 1997; Sarasohn, 1997). A recent study by Second Harvest (1998), one of the country's largest private hunger relief agencies, suggests that cutbacks in government welfare and FSPs, low-paying jobs, and rising medical and child care expenses contribute to an increase in food insecurity in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as limited or uncertain availability of nutritious and adequate food, whereas hunger is "the uneasy or painful sensation caused by a lack of food" (Hamilton et al., 1997, p. ii); people who are "food secure" are defined as "households with assured access to enough food for an active healthy life" (Hamilton et al., p. ii). Using these definitions, a USDA-sponsored survey using national data from the food security supplement of the Current Population Survey, estimated that 10.5 million households, or 10.2 percent of all U.S. households, were food insecure in 1998. About 36 million people lived in these households, of which 14 million were children under 18 years of age (Food Security Institute, 1999). The USDA operates 14 food assistance programs to address various aspects of food insecurity and hunger. (American Dietetic Association, 1998). The FSP, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the school lunch and breakfast programs are the cornerstones of food assistance programs. The FSP is the largest and best known of the federal nutrition programs. The Food Stamp Program The FSP was first born in the late 1930s during the wave of unemployment and poverty that swept the nation. It was conceived as a program to help farmers and to feed hungry people during the Depression era. It ended, however, in 1943 when surplus commodities were needed to feed soldiers (Galer-Unti, 1995; Ohls & Beebout, 1993). Although the Eisenhower administration initiated a surplus commodity program in 1957, hunger did not make the national agenda again until the 1960 presidential campaign. When he took office, President Kennedy doubled the surplus commodity program and revived the FSP (Maney, 1989). …

This study examined early research findings concerning the well-being of people who leave Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs and then applies these findings in the development of TANF-related advocacy strategies. Based on secondary data analysis of TANF leaver studies from 12 states with large TANF caseloads, the authors focus on the employment and earnings experiences of leavers; TANF recidivism and its relationship to job stability; and the use of support services. State studies typically have found employment levels among leavers in the 55 percent to 65 percent range, but average earnings fall below the poverty level. Although those who remain employed can expect earnings growth, job instability is a significant problem and contributes to TANF recidivism rates of 21 percent to 35 percent within the first year. Available support services such as Medicaid, food stamps, and child care subsidies are underused, often because leavers do not understand that they are eligible. Recommended advocacy strategies include policy interventions to improve the economic well-being of low-income working people, as well as administrative and direct practice strategies to improve the implementation of existing policies. The authors argue that attention to such advocacy efforts is both critical and opportune for social work, given the profession's historical mission, impending federal TANF reauthorization, and unspent TANF allocations.

Over the past decade, the federal earned income tax credit (EITC) has become the largest antipoverty program in the United States. For the 2002 tax year, working families with children can receive as much as $4,140 in EITC benefits. Although families may arrange to receive benefits throughout the year (through their paychecks), most receive a lump sum after filing federal income taxes. Research suggests that many families use the credit to purchase big-ticket items, to move, to pay for educational expenses, or to set aside savings. Thus, the credit may promote long-term household development as well as help families with basic expenses. Research also suggests that EITC encourages work among single-parent families, an outcome that is consistent with one goal of welfare reform. Social workers can be involved in outreach efforts that help low-income workers claim EITC benefits and inform them about advance-payment options. Social workers can also support efforts to increase EITC benefits for larger families and link tax refunds to saving programs.

Research indicates that high levels of stress, low social support networks, and depression during pregnancy have a powerful negative effect on maternal functioning and infant developmental outcomes. Low-income, inner-city women from ethnic minority groups, whose levels of depression have been documented as higher than their white counterparts, are at increased risk, as are their infants. This article reviews the relevant research literature and proposes that "bundling" several social work treatments intended to reduce or prevent depression, expand social networks, and enhance mothers' knowledge of child development is more effective than any single approach. Joining treatments into one intervention approach offers multiple treatments for multiple problems and can be designed to be evaluated.

As a result of the recent implementation of work-oriented antipoverty programs, more welfare recipients can be expected to be working in low-wage jobs. With these jobs there is little hope that these workers' incomes will rise above the poverty level. One way to help support these low-wage workers is through tax reform. Although low-wage workers pay little or no federal tax, they still pay high payroll and local taxes. To help such workers keep more of their earnings, refundable taxes like earned income tax credit and child refund taxes should be expanded, and sales taxes on food should be eliminated. Key words: equity; poverty; tax reform; welfare reform; working poor people Welfare entitlement programs have lifted many people out of poverty and have opened the doors of economic opportunity for many, but these programs also have become increasingly unpopular. Consequently, welfare programs have come under serious attack, and the thrust of welfare programs subsequently has changed from entitlement transfer programs to work participation programs. On October 13, 1988, President Reagan signed into law the Family Support Act (P.L. 100-485). In essence, this law called for support of economic self-sufficiency activities among welfare recipients. To facilitate economic self-sufficiency, the act authorized the creation of the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program. Under the JOBS program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients were required to either work, look for work, or participate in the jobs training programs (Hagan & Lurie, 1995). Unlike the Work Incentive Programs of the 1970s, the JOBS program achieved a measure of success (Blank & Blum, 1997; Hagan & Lurie). States with innovative programs and administrative commitment to the JOBS program saw success, whereas others with significant constraints did not. On the whole, people who had limited child care services, health care provisions, and educational opportunities did not achieve the overall goals of the JOBS program ( Blank & Blum, 1997; Corbett, 1994-95; Hagan & Lurie). The effort to fight poverty through work was further strengthened by President Clinton's welfare reform measure. On August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (P.L. 104-193), which replaced AFDC with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. The act focused on moving poor families from welfare to work. It required work in exchange for time-limited assistance and ultimately required people to be employed and become economically self-sufficient. The measure included the following features to achieve the central goal of the policy (Administration for Children and Families, 1996; Scholz, 1994-95): 1. Make work pay--To encourage people to work and continue working, this policy provides several economic incentives. Mainly, the administration proposed the expansion of earned income tax credit (EITC) and an increase of the minimum wage. 2. Job training and education--To facilitate the transition from welfare to work and to increase earning capability, the administration promised to provide training and education while recipients received welfare assistance. 3. Time-limited assistance--To prevent welfare recipients from staying on welfare indefinitely and to help them move toward employment, the new welfare mechanism provides only time-limited benefits. Once the time limit is reached, welfare recipients are expected to be employed. To facilitate this effort, recipients are assisted with child care, health care, and other support services during the time they seek employment. President Reagan's JOBS program, along with President Clinton's welfare reform and a number of state work initiatives, is a clear indication that traditional welfare entitlement programs are being replaced by work-oriented antipoverty programs. …

One of the most significant and far-reaching issues in the social work profession has been the condition of poverty. Whether the discussion revolves around welfare use, racial inequalities, single-parent families, infant mortality, economic insecurity, or a host of other topics, poverty underlies each and every one of these subjects. Ultimately, it is one of the great challenges that the profession and society as a whole must face. Yet how we confront this challenge depends in part on an accurate assessment of the magnitude of the problem. Until recently, the longitudinal dynamics of poverty in America were largely unknown. Point-in-time estimates gathered from cross-sectional surveys such as the decennial census were the sole source of information available to researchers. However, with the advent of several large national panel studies, considerable insight has been gained over the past 20 years. Analyses of these data sets have revealed a number of important dimensions surrounding the longitudinal dynamics of poverty. Yet in spite of this growing body of knowledge, a pivotal question that remains unaddressed - the answer to which would significantly contribute to our research and policy understanding - is, What is the likelihood of an American's experiencing poverty at some point during his or her adult lifetime? This article represents the first attempt to answer this fundamental question. Literature Review With the advent of several national panel studies, including the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and the Survey of Income and Program Participation, considerable light has been shed on understanding the longitudinal dynamics of poverty spells. These data sets have allowed researchers to observe and track the individual dynamics of poverty and income mobility. Several broad conclusions can be drawn from this body of work. First, most spells of poverty are fairly brief. The typical pattern is that households are impoverished for several years and then manage to rise above the poverty line (Bane & Ellwood, 1986; Blank, 1997; Duncan et al., 1995; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996; Walker, 1994). They may stay there for a period of time, only to experience an additional fall into poverty at some point. Because their economic distance above the poverty threshold is often modest, a detrimental economic event such as the loss of a job or the breakup of a family can throw a family back below the poverty line. In contrast, a much smaller number of households experience chronic poverty for years at a time. These are the cases that we generally think of when the term "underclass" is used (Wilson, 1987, 1996). Typically they have characteristics that put them at a distinct disadvantage vis-a-vis the labor market (for example, individuals with serious work disabilities, female-headed families with large numbers of children, racial minority groups living in innercity areas). As a result their prospects for getting out of poverty for any significant time are severely diminished (Duncan, 1984). And of course some individuals and households fall between these two ends of the spectrum. As an example of these patterns, Blank (1997) relied on the PSID to calculate the occurrence of poverty over a 13-year period. During the years from 1979 to 1991, she found that one-third of Americans experienced a spell of poverty. However, of those who fell below the poverty line, one-half were poor for three years or less, one-third were in poverty between four and nine years, and 14.6 percent fell below the poverty line for 10 of 13 years (only 4.5 percent of poor people fell below the poverty line for each of the 13 years). Blank also found that the likelihood and duration of poverty varied sharply by race. One-quarter of white Americans experienced poverty at some point during the 13-year period compared with two-thirds of black Americans. …

The United States is currently struggling with how to best address persistent poverty and the high rates of social problems associated with its existence in urban centers (Hoechstetter, 1996; Jennings, 1994). Moore and Pinderhughes (1993) characterized the debate on the underclass as "who is responsible for the condition of the poor - the individual or society? Is persistent poverty caused by behavioral pathology or the economic structure?" (p. xii). The answers to these questions have profound implications for the development of strategies to eliminate persistent poverty. Unfortunately, the debate has taken a deficit perspective toward communities (Saleebey, 1992, 1996) and has ignored community assets in the search for revitalization strategies (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993; McKnight & Kretzmann, 1991). A focus on community social problems has a long historical record in the United States (Halpern, 1995): The neighborhood has long been an important locus for efforts to address the causes and consequences of poverty in American society. Over the course of the past century neighborhood-based initiatives have been called on to reduce class conflict, counter feelings of anger and alienation, localize control of institutions, create jobs and reverse neighborhood decline, and address a variety of specific poverty-related problems. (p. 1) Thus, the revitalization of neighborhoods presents many challenges for social work and other professions in helping to promote policies and services that address the needs of communities in a manner that meaningfully involves their populations in the decision-making process. Much attention has been paid to the high-risk environment of inner-city children and their families (Kozol, 1995) and the need for government (local, state, and federal) and the private sector to collaborate to create positive change at the community level (Perez & Martinez, 1993). Any efforts to revitalize these communities must enhance local assets. This article examines the nature and extent of persistent poverty among one population of color - the Latino population. A case study of Latina-owned beauty parlors in a large New England city illustrates the multifaceted role Latino businesses can play in the social-economic network of the community. Implications for social work practice in Latino communities are presented. Literature Review Poverty There are an estimated 22 million Latinos in the United States (Castex, 1994). The median income for Latino families is $23,884, compared to $39,239 for non-Latino white families (Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, 1993). All Latino groups have incomes below the national median (Holmes, 1996); Puerto Rican families have the lowest income of any group ($20,654), followed by Mexican families ($23,018). Cuban families have the highest median income of any Latino group ($30,095). Puerto Rican families have the highest percentage of people living below the poverty rate (39.4 percent), followed by Mexican families (29.5 percent), Central or South American families (24.6 percent), other Latino families (20.6 percent), and Cuban families (18.0 percent). These rates are in sharp contrast with the poverty rate of 9.4 percent for non-Latino white families (Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, 1993). However, despite the high concentration of poverty among most Latino subgroups, they have not received sufficient national attention. Enchautegui (1994) identified five reasons for this inattention: (1) misperceived identity, (2) lack of widespread attention to the working-poor population, (3) geographical concentration, (4) lack of political participation, and (5) differences among Latino subgroups. The interplay among these factors has resulted in Latinos being considered "invisible" in national policy. The literature on Latino poverty can be categorized into three schools of thought (Borges-Mendez, 1993; Enchautegui, 1994; Hurtado, 1995; Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, 1996; Melendez, 1993; Moore & Pinderhughes, 1993; Morales & Bonilla, 1993; Perez & Cruz, 1994; Perez & Martinez, 1993; Segura, 1992; Torres, 1995): (1) Poverty is the result of an interplay between immigrant status and rapid demographic changes (high rates of female-headed households and fertility); (2) Latinos are an "underclass" (low formal educational achievement and lack of or inconsistent employment history); and (3) a lack of market-attractive skills exclude Latinos from high-wage jobs. …

Substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, crime and violence, gangs, unsafe sexual practices, teenage pregnancy, single parenthood, limited health care, slum housing, and homelessness are problems frequently experienced by families living in poverty-stricken urban areas. A sense of hopelessness and despair pervades the lives of these poor children and children of color, "who see their parents and loved ones succumb to the pressures of poverty and see for themselves no chance of doing better" (Lerner, 1996, p. 8). In this budget-deficit era it is less likely that income transfer programs are a way out of poverty. Education, which increases a youth's skills and employment opportunities, is an important route out. Unfortunately, schools in impoverished communities often have been part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Too often these schools have become as impoverished as their surrounding communities. According to a recent U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report, the most physically decrepit school buildings are located in central cities and have student populations that are predominantly poor children or children of color (Richards, 1996). Poverty in the inner cities has a profoundly negative impact on children's educational success. Resnick and colleagues (cited in Hendrickson & Omer, 1995) found that more than 70 percent of children born into poverty experienced severe academic problems during their early elementary grades. These problems include poor cognitive development, decreased language ability, inadequate social skills, reduced abstract-reasoning ability, deficient problem-solving skills, reduced self-esteem, shortened attention spans, and little impulse control. Kirst (1991) powerfully portrayed the impact of poverty and its related problems on school performance: Johnny can't read because he needs glasses and breakfast and encouragement from his absent father. Maria doesn't pay attention in class because she can't understand English very well, and she's worried about her mother's drinking, and she's tired from trying to sleep in the car. Dick is flunking because he's frequently absent. His mother doesn't get him to school because she's depressed because she lost her job. She missed too much work because she was sick and could not afford medical care. (p. 615) These problems result in higher-than-average dropout rates (Condition of Education, 1996). It has been estimated that almost half of all students in New York City, Chicago, and Detroit drop out of school (Schorr, 1989). The personal and social consequences of dropping out are devastating to the individual who leaves school and to society. Compared to high school graduates, school dropouts are three and a half times more likely to be arrested, six times more likely to be unwed parents, and twice as likely to be unemployed and live in poverty (Schorr, 1989). Fortunately, there is a growing recognition of the impact of nonacademic factors on children's school performance (Hare, 1995) and that to "rescue children, whole families must [be] rescued along with them" (Hornblower, 1996, p. 37). This is particularly crucial in the severely distressed, impoverished, inner-city communities. A movement is underway in a number of communities across the United States to make schools "hubs" for community development. A number of communities are designing programs that link many services to schools through the establishment of school-linked, family resource centers. This article discusses the rationale behind this movement, describes several exemplary programs already developed, and focuses on the promise the movement holds for being a major social work strategy for revitalizing impoverished communities. School-Linked, Family Resource Center Movement The school-linked, family resource center movement is being driven largely by the seemingly intractable problems with the current network of social services for children and families. …

In recent years a growing number of Americans have experienced the threat of job loss or unemployment. In 1992, the percentage of unemployed people seeking work rose to 7.4 percent from 5.5 percent in 1990 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1994). Although this rate has since declined, the economy seems far from robust. Within this uncertain job environment, discussions of government policies toward unemployed workers, particularly those relating to the length and coverage of unemployment benefits, take on great immediacy. Many believe that a major industrial transformation is under way involving the downsizing and restructuring of businesses bent on financial survival (Ferman & Gardner, 1979; Hansen, 1988). This change is most apparent in areas of the country with shrinking populations and dying industries. In these communities, being laid off or fired often triggers a downward economic spiral that may be irreversible because of structural changes in the workplace. Ferman and Gardner (1979) referred to this downward occupational pattern as "skidding" and viewed it as common among U.S. industrial workers. In contrast to more educated professionals who could, at least until recently, anticipate a return to their previous living standard once they obtained a new position, blue-collar workers experiencing structural unemployment often face a future of reduced economic circumstances and the need to find new occupational opportunities (Hansen, 1988). Between 1979 and 1984, one in four displaced workers were out of work for over a year (Biegel, Cunningham, Yamatani, & Martz, 1989). This article examines the economic resources used by a large group of displaced workers coping with job loss for varying lengths of time. It reports the extent of their reliance on a broad range of economic resources, including government assistance programs, private charities, and financial support from family and friends. Inasmuch as government support, especially unemployment benefits, may be viewed as crucial to economic survival, this article highlights the sources of public support used by workers unemployed for varying time periods. Resources Used by Unemployed Workers Wage earners feeling nagging anxiety about their own job fate hardly need social scientists to remind them that "financial hardship is one of the most severe stresses experienced by the unemployed and their families" (Borrero, 1980, p. 925) or that "the most noxious consequence of unemployment is the financial burden it causes" (Turner, Kessler, & House, 1991, pp. 538-539). Briar (1987) vividly described the economic ramifications of long-term job loss and the importance of economic resources, especially unemployment benefits, in buffering its effects: Depleted life savings, bankruptcy, poverty, and homelessness are but a few of the by-products of one or multiple spells of unemployment. Economic deprivation, in turn, may set in motion a chain of losses that compound the psychological and social stresses associated with joblessness. Fewer than one-half and at many times only one-third of jobless people receive unemployment benefits. And even if they receive such benefits, workers and their families with no other source of income are plunged below the poverty line. (p. 3) Although discussions of job loss in both the popular media and academic journals commonly highlight its economic impact, empirical literature on its economic reverberations is rather limited. Perhaps because social workers need no persuasion that economic factors are central to the well-being of unemployed workers, the few studies on resources have been contributed by social work researchers. Briar (1978) provided early documentation of the financial effects of long-term unemployment on 52 skilled workers and their families. In a later work, she concluded that "without an economic cushion, such as an employed spouse, benefits, or savings, workers and their families may plummet financially" (Briar, 1987, p. …

The War on Poverty was never won. If a victor had to be named, it would be the elderly population. Children have been the losers. The decline in poverty from 22 percent to 13 percent of the population during the 1960s and 1970s can be attributed to increases in social insurance spending for elderly people (Storey, 1982). The effects of the War on Poverty reduced poverty among elderly people by 38 percent, whereas poverty rates for female-headed households with children declined by 11 percent (Storey, 1982). The most current data indicate that 21.8 percent of all children were poor in 1991 (Sawhill, 1992). In 1969, 15.6 percent of all children were poor (Danziger & Danziger, 1993). This change represents an increase in poverty rates of 40 percent since the late 1960s when the War on Poverty was being waged (Figure 1). Of particular concern is the high rate of poverty for children raised in single-parent families. The risk of poverty for these children is great. It is estimated that 61 percent of all children in this group will be poor throughout most of the early years of their childhood, and only 7 percent will escape poverty altogether (U.S. House of Representatives, 1992). Furthermore, the number of single-parent families is rising ("Single-Parent Families," 1992). Single-parent families made up 27 percent of families with related children in 1992, up from 22 percent in 1982. Eight million households are headed by single women, and 1.5 million are headed by single men. Causes of Poverty among Children What has caused the increase in poverty rates among children since 1969? Most policy analysts have focused on three factors: changes in demographics, changes in economic conditions, and changes in government spending on social welfare programs. Changes in Demographics The increase in the number of single-parent families has contributed to high poverty rates among children. There has been little change in poverty rates for children living in two-parent families (Figure 2). It is estimated that almost two-thirds of the net increase in the number of poor families between 1990 and 1991 consisted of single-mother families (Sawhill, 1992). Several demographic trends have occurred that help to explain this change. Since 1950 the number of marriages that end in divorce has increased significantly. Between 1950 and 1981, the number of divorces per year jumped from 385,000 to 1.2 million a year (U.S. House of Representatives, 1992). In addition, the number of children born out of wedlock has increased. For example, in 1989 more than one in four births in the United States were to unmarried mothers, up from one in 20 in 1960 (U.S. House of Representatives, 1992). This figure is even higher for people of color. Almost two of every three black children are born to unmarried mothers (U.S. House of Representatives, 1992). These trends have resulted in a 20 percent increase between 1980 and 1990 in the number of children living in female-headed households. Because there are fewer adult wage earners and women earn less than men, female-headed families have a lower earning potential than two-parent families (Danziger & Danziger, 1993). Despite these trends, data indicate that between 1960 and 1990, the number of children remained relatively constant at about 64 million, yet the number of adults grew significantly (Fuchs & Reklis, 1992). So even though there are more adults to care for these children, the children are worse off. In addition, the mothers of these children are better educated today than they were in 1960. The proportion of children living with mothers who had not completed high school was 50 percent in 1960 and declined to 21 percent in 1988; the proportion with mothers who had four or more years of college rose from 5 percent to 15 percent (Fuchs & Reklis, 1992). Both of these demographic trends should have reduced child poverty rates, yet they have not. …

Indigenous peoples throughout the world are facing cultural deterioration, and many populations are even threatened by extinction (Linden, 1991). Aboriginal peoples generally share a history of colonization and are bereaved of the right to self-determination, their own land, and their own resources (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 1992). In the United States, the cultural demise of native populations has been increasingly recognized in the human services literature. The social condition of American Indian populations is characterized by severe poverty and poor physical and mental health (Davenport & Davenport, 1987; Miller, 1982; Nofz, 1988). Information on Alaska Natives is scarce but reflects a high-risk health profile (Healthy People 2000, 1990). Like other indigenous populations, Hawaiians experience an array of health, social, and economic problems (Alu Like, 1985; Blaisdell, 1989; Mokuau, 1990; Papa Ola Lokahi, 1992). Hawaiians have disproportionately high rates of heart disease (Aluli, 1991; Wegner, 1989), cancer (Le Marchand & Kolonel, 1989), and diabetes (Johnson, 1989). Also, Hawaiians live five to 10 years less than other populations in Hawaii (Gardner, cited in Johnson, 1989). Socioeconomic indicators portray a population that has not fared well under a Western-based economic and educational system. Hawaiians tend to fall into the lowest income brackets (Papa Ola Lokahi, 1992) and to have the lowest levels of educational attainment in the state (Blaisdell, 1989). Finally, Hawaiians rank highest in the state in an array of social problem categories including cases of child abuse and neglect (State of Hawaii, Department of Human Services, 1988), placements in correctional facilities (Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estates, 1983), and teenage pregnancies (Papa Ola Lokahi, 1992). Although it should be noted that multiple factors predispose Hawaiians and other indigenous populations to the complex social problems in society, the lack of self-governance is one such factor. The centennial of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American business people - the turning point for Hawaiian sovereignty and self-determination - was observed in 1993. This article discusses the unique plight of Hawaiians by analyzing historical and current social problems and describing culturally appropriate prescriptions for empowerment that focus on the development of native government and economies. History of Oppression The history of Hawaii after the first Western contact made by Captain James Cook in 1778 can be conceptualized as a series of events that dismantled a thriving indigenous society. These events, whether inadvertent or deliberate, provided Westerners with a great share of control over Hawaii's resources. Infectious disease and depopulation began in 1778, the influence of missionaries and loss of cultural values and traditions began in 1820, land rights were lost in 1848, and the monarchy was overthrown in 1893. Infectious Disease and Depopulation Hawaii's ecology developed over millennia in environmental isolation. Natural organisms existed in a closely interdependent network and developed little resistance to outside threats. As a result, the native people had no built-up immunities and were virtually defenseless to disease. The vast oceanic distances among the Pacific island groups had effectively prevented the spread of bacterial or viral illnesses anywhere in Polynesia. Contact with Western sailors and merchants led to the introduction of infectious diseases and the massive decline of the Hawaiian population. In addition to syphilis and gonorrhea, epidemics of tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox, measles, influenza, and bubonic plague heightened the rate of Hawaiian depopulation (Fuchs, 1961). The earliest medical accounts in the postcontact era depict virtual genocide (Daws, 1974). In the 100 years following Western contact, the Hawaiian population dropped from an estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 to 40,000, a reduction of at least 95 percent (Stannard, 1989). …

It has been 101 years since the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children. Advocates were admonished to refrain from disrupting families simply because the families were poor. This basic instruction has proved difficult to implement. Public child welfare has become a system that primarily serves poor children and their families (Pelton, 1994). How well these families are served is open to debate. POVERTY AND CHILD WELFARE A review of families served by child welfare reveals that many of the families are poor. Most of the referrals to Child Protective Services allege neglect, which is strongly associated with poverty (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). The overrepresentation of African Americans in the child welfare system suggests that race may serve to exacerbate the role of socioeconomic status (Harris & Hackett, 2008). Poverty is a threat to the well-being of children (Maluccio, Pine, & Tracy, 2002). However, policies and services to ameliorate poverty are much harder to find. The disadvantages of poverty are cumulative. Poor families come to the attention of child welfare for poverty-related issues. Children can be hungry, be living in substandard housing or be homeless, be unsupervised while a parent works or is meeting other responsibilities, be truant from failing schools, lack medical care, or have a caretaker with untreated mental illness or substance abuse. Each of these issues can be a pathway to placement. Locating accessible and effective community services for these issues can be a daunting task for child welfare staff. Compounding the challenges are pressing workforce issues. High turnover rates among child welfare staff are costly for agencies struggling to recruit, train, and retain staff and are expensive for families as service plans are delayed, not evaluated, or not even implemented (Graef & Hill, 2000). Housing and residing in low-income neighborhoods are especially troubling areas for families involved in the child welfare system. Housing problems can result in both the disruption of families and the inability to restore children to their families (Pelton, 2008). A condition for reunification often involves requiring the parent to secure safe and stable housing. This can be a substantial barrier for poor parents. There is a clear association of housing problems with child welfare involvement (Courtney, McMurtry, & Zinn, 2004; Freisther, Merritt, & LaScalla, 2006). The link between neighborhood characteristics and reported child maltreatment rates suggests that economically distressed areas have higher maltreatment rates, although the mechanisms by which this happens remain to be explored (Coulton, Crampton, Irwin, Spilsbury, & Korbin, 2007). CHILD WELFARE SERVICES FOR POOR FAMILIES There is little disagreement about the association of poverty with child welfare involvement. Disagreements develop when casual relationships are advanced. For example, does living in poverty increase the risks of other adverse events such as stress, substance abuse, mental illness, and domestic violence? These factors are also associated with higher rates of child welfare involvement. Research continues to advance the understanding of the etiology of child maltreatment. However, child welfare agencies cannot wait for the definitive explication of the micro, macro, and mezzo complexities of maltreatment. Thus, service plans are often based on the best available data. When parents have substance abuse issues, the service plan is likely to require parenting classes and substance abuse treatment. If there is conflict in the family, then counseling is likely to be required. Poor parents may be ordered to get job training or to find a job. These typical service plans represent a step in an attempt to benefit the family. Unfortunately, they can ignore the pressing realities of poverty and inadequate services that are a part of the experience of families. …

The process of shifting responsibility for entitlement programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to state and local governments is well under way. Even though these programs have not yet been turned into block grants, the majority of states now have waivers that allow significant latitude in the way they administer entitlements. At least 31 states, for example, have a waiver for some type of time limit on benefits or stringent work requirements (Center for Law and Public Policy, 1996). The theme underlying much of the reform is to make AFDC a temporary benefit and move large numbers of recipients who have been out of the labor force for extended periods of time into employment. The income transfers provided through the AFDC program have been a cornerstone of anti-poverty policy in the United States through much of the 20th century. Although their effectiveness in actually lifting families' incomes above the poverty threshold has diminished in recent decades (Danziger & Weinberg, 1994), AFDC and related entitlements have provided an important safety net for families and children. For social workers and others working with poor people, AFDC has represented the economic floor below which few families could fall and from which they could rise economically. The limitations and constraints now being placed on AFDC and related benefits will fundamentally alter the lives of low-income families, the conditions in low-income communities, and the demands placed on local governments and nonprofit organizations. The agencies administering public assistance and related programs will be challenged to redefine their missions and redesign their services. Social workers will need new skills and knowledge to help large numbers of individuals move into the labor market and to enable communities to foster and sustain employment opportunities. To respond to the challenges of the new era, social workers need a greater understanding of how to enhance employment opportunities for welfare recipients and low-wage workers. More intricate knowledge of the workings of low-income communities and low-skill labor markets is required, particularly knowledge about how these factors support or undermine individuals' chances of finding a job that provides a living wage. It is within these contexts that effective programs and practices will need to be crafted. This article discusses the relationship among poverty, welfare, and work and the factors that allow communities to foster employment opportunities, enhance accumulation of wealth, and provide a safety net for families. In addition, this article outlines the research needed to raise the understanding of how communities and labor markets affect work and poverty and the process through which communities can change to meet the challenges of devolution. The agenda set forth is not exhaustive but focuses on the contexts in which low-income people, whether working or on welfare, try to raise and support their families. The agenda assumes that social workers have an important role to play in helping create community and opportunity structures that allow all families to thrive. Poverty and Work Welfare Recipients and Poor Working People To respond to the increasing emphasis on work and self-sufficiency, it is important to recognize that work, welfare, and poverty are intricately interwoven, dynamic, and fluid. Poverty is not solely a problem of joblessness. Although welfare recipients are the poorest population group, a sizable portion of the poor population is employed. Approximately 40 percent of poor individuals age 16 and older have jobs (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993), but their incomes do not rise above the poverty line because of low-wage jobs or parttime status. Working families and welfare families are often thought of as two distinct groups, but there is actually considerable overlap between work and welfare. A slight majority of welfare recipients receive wages and welfare either simultaneously or sequentially and ultimately leave welfare for work (Harris, 1993). …

Through a series of laws, the U.S. government has greatly improved the economic condition of the nation's elderly population. Social security benefits increased in 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1972. Automatic cost-of-living adjustments, enacted in 1972, ensure constant purchasing power to retired beneficiaries. Present retirees also benefit from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-406), which provides greater security for private pensions. Thanks to this act, minimum standards of administration and fiscal responsibility in pension plans have been strengthened, and the exclusion or differential treatment of most classes of employees has been prohibited. Moreover, the enactment in 1972 of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and its implementation in 1974 resulted in the assurance of a basic minimum floor of income for the nation's elderly people. Because of all these legislative steps, the average income of older Americans has increased during the past 25 years at a faster rate than that of nonelders (Radner, 1987). The household income of elders, adjusted for family size, is now as high as that for the rest of the population (Danziger, van der Gaag, Smolensky, & Taussig, 1984a, 1984b), and the poverty rate for elderly people is lower than that for the general population (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 1991). Yet the public's concern for income security for certain segments of the elderly population - black women and Hispanic women, particularly if they are unmarried - lingers. This concern is justified. Because the income disparity between rich and poor people is greater among elderly people than among other population groups, there are more extremely poor individuals among elderly people than among other population groups. Conversely, wealthy elderly people are much wealthier than other elderly people, compared with wealthy nonelderly people (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990). Thus, despite numerous steps that have been taken by the U.S. government to improve the income status of elderly people, some segments of the elderly population remain extremely poor. And the poorest elderly people are concentrated among black and Hispanic women. The categories of white, black, and Hispanic women are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Some people of Hispanic origin are white, whereas others are black. For the purposes of this study, however, Hispanic women were identified as a special category, because they constitute a group of women with a distinct economic status. Other groups of women of color are excluded from the data analysis because sufficient data were not available. The article focuses on two areas: current income status (median income, sources of income, and incidence of poverty) and work experience and earnings history (types of occupations in their longest jobs, employment rate, and level of lifetime average monthly earnings and social security benefits if they retired at age 65) of recently retired women. The data are organized so that the figures for black and Hispanic women can be compared with those for white women. In discussing the earnings history of recently retired women, I will include the figures for men for further comparison. The following data sources were used in the analyses: Income of the Population 55 or Older, 1988 (Social Security Administration, 1990) for the current income status of white, black, and Hispanic women and data from The 1982 New Beneficiary Survey (Maxwell, 1983) for the work experience and earnings histories of women who retired between mid- 1980 and mid- 1981. The 1982 survey is the most recent one of a series of surveys conducted by the Social Security Administration on the economic conditions of recently retired workers (Maxwell, 1983). The technical aspects of the survey data are discussed elsewhere (Ozawa & Kim, 1989; Ozawa & Law, 1991). Current Income Status Median Income Compared with white women, black and Hispanic women have considerably smaller incomes. …

The power of naming is capturing the interest of social work practitioners, particularly those who seek to provide gender- and ethnic-sensitive interventions. Dividing families into categories such as intact or broken pejoratively labels mother-headed families, which actually reflect the maternal commitment and strength of women managing on their own (Abramovitz, 1991). Most one-parent families are headed by women, and a disproportionate number are headed by women of color (Van Den Bergh & Cooper, 1986). So divisive dichotomies place women and people of color in positions that legitimize their disempowered social status (Van Den Bergh & Cooper, 1986). The way practitioners refer to and categorize both individuals and families affects problem definitions, interventions, and the helping process in general. A "nonintact family" seeking professional help with a problematic parent-child interaction risks being confronted by a practitioner who attributes family problems to inadequate structure rather than to the normative developmental phases of childhood and family life cycles. Mothers who raise children alone often internalize low expectations about their ability to head families and subsequently develop "worried well" syndromes. That is, they may attribute all family conflicts to their inability to parent their children alone. The negative impact of pejorative naming has reached full cycle when problems associated with the life cycle of the family, such as adolescent individuation, are attributed by the mother herself to her inability to parent her children in a one-parent home. Placing families in a deviant category is but one of the artificial dichotomies that have negative consequences for mother-headed families. Such dualistic thinking results in other cleavages of women's experiences that, in the interest of the well-being of women and their families, are best perceived in an integrative fashion. The traditional polarity between work and leisure, for example, does not fit the life experiences of women who face multiple challenges associated with the interface of wage labor and child rearing. Employment and family responsibilities are inseparable components of women's lives. Affordable child care, for example, is requisite to mothers being able to participate in the labor market and to provide for their families. Interface of Wage Labor and Child Rearing When wage labor and child rearing are artificially separated as two distinct areas for social policies and programs, comprehensive services that could enable women to perform both roles are overlooked. Guaranteed child support awards (for child rearing) and work training (for employment) are essential to raise impoverished mothers and their children above the poverty level (National Center for Children in Poverty, 1992). Because a majority of fathers do not pay the full amount of child support determined by the courts, the government provides subsidies to mothers and collects payments from fathers. In the United States, 50 percent of all single mother-headed families live below the poverty level, compared with 8 percent of single father-headed families (Gordon, 1990). In addition, mother-headed families are fully one-third of the homeless population (Bassuk, 1991). Gender differences in family poverty rates need to be assessed in terms of persistent gaps in earnings; women still earn only 74 percent of male annual wages (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990). Disparities in earnings are even more pronounced for black and Latino mothers. Nearly one-third of black single mothers who worked for pay in 1987 were below the poverty level, whereas 17 percent of white single mothers in the labor market were poor (Gordon, 1990). Discrimination in hiring based on race and ethnicity also hinders mothers receiving child support payments, because men of color earn disproportionally lower wages compared with their white counterparts. The solution to family poverty is not simply employment, but employment that pays at least $6 to $7 per hour to raise the family out of poverty (Bane, Ellwood, Jargowsky, & Wilson, 1989). …

Although the literature on the prevention of homelessness often includes recommendations by researchers, social policymakers, and social services practitioners (Bingham, Green, & White, 1987; Caton, 1990; Momeni, 1990), surprisingly little is known about the various methods used by poor people to avoid homelessness. Existing evidence suggests that informal helping among the poor population has managed to keep millions of homeless people off the streets (Rossi, 1989; Rossi, Wright, Fisher, & Willis, 1987; Vacha & Marin, 1993; Wright, 1989). This article examines the self-help strategies and resources that exist among members of poor households and their role in the prevention of homelessness. Our focus is on a particular category of people--the doubled-up homeless population. As the term suggests, members of the doubled-up homeless population obtain shelter from their friends and relatives to avoid living on the streets or in homeless shelters. Although our primary focus is on the homeless population, our policy recommendations include ways to help the low-income households that shelter them as well. Doubled-up Households as Agents of Homelessness Prevention Despite their own poverty and inadequate living conditions, poor households provide the majority of housing for the homeless population. Wright (1989), referring to a study of Chicago's homeless population, indicated that there are some 80,000 Chicago residents who are not actually homeless because they are subsidized by their family and friends, either through cash assistance (30,000 cases) or direct housing (50,000 cases). Similarly, Vacha and Marin (1993) found that about one out of six low-income households seeking energy assistance was currently sheltering people who would otherwise be forced to live outdoors or in homeless shelters. Thus, many of those who are very poor have been able to avoid literal homelessness primarily through the generosity of their friends and relatives (Rossi et al., 1987; Shinn, Knickman, & Weitzman, 1991). Although the limited research suggests that doubling up may act as a stopgap to homelessness, what little is known about it also indicates that it can be very unstable. Living arrangements in doubled-up households are often far from ideal. Household members not only must struggle to meet their monthly food and housing costs, they must also share overcrowded accommodations and contend with different lifestyles (Thorman, 1988). Hope and Young (1986), commenting on shelter use patterns among the homeless population, wrote that "the most frequent reason for seeking admission is eviction . . . over half the evictions are from the home of a friend or relative". Finally, Vacha and Marin (1993) reported that a very large proportion of those who house homeless people are at risk of homelessness themselves. Research on self-help among doubled-up households is limited, and the role of doubling up in homelessness prevention is not clearly understood. Furthermore, what has been published has focused on the impact of doubling up on the people who provide the housing. Even less is known about those who receive housing assistance from their friends and relatives. The only research concerning those who have been housed by their friends and relatives the authors could locate was reported in studies of homeless people living in public shelters (Hope & Young, 1986; Shinn et al., 1991; Thorman, 1988). However, the people who end up in shelters may not be similar to those who manage to remain in conventional housing. For example, Shinn et al. (1991) reported that most homeless people do not turn to shelters until they have completely exhausted their social networks. Furthermore, Phillips, DeChillo, Kronenfield, and Middleton-Jeter (1988) indicated that the families most likely to be evicted from doubled-up households are those most affected by stress and least able to effectively cope with stress. …

At a time when most Americans are growing increasingly disillusioned with U.S. politics, four trends have emerged that could have significant implications for social workers interested in political action: (1) development of an anti-incumbency movement; (2) increased voter apathy, partly in response to candidates who do not appeal to voters' or potential voters' interests; (3) growing lack of identification or affiliation with any one political party, as shown by Ross Perot's independent candidacy for president in 1992; and (4) broad distrust of elected and appointed officials. Although these trends do not speak well of U.S. political affairs, they may offer opportunities for social workers to enter the political arena in a way that could both increase public recognition of the profession and provide a conscience to the world of politics. This article examines some of the confusing issues and barriers that have historically discouraged social workers from getting involved in politics, including the federal Hatch Political Activity Act and Internal Revenue Code limitations on employee and agencies' political activities. Furthermore, the article offers suggestions to increase the political opportunities for social workers. Price of Inaction It is old news that since its beginnings the social work profession has been at war with itself about the extent to which it should engage in matters of social justice and reform. Drawn by the need to gain both professional status and public recognition, social workers' efforts toward major social reforms were usually dampened by politically conservative times. Thus, the tendency to turn inward and away from both advocacy and controversy may have slowed the profession down in gaining any real political leverage. Haynes and Mickelson (1991) noted that social workers faced hard times during the Reagan and Bush presidencies of the 1980s: The failure of the social work profession to assume a position of leadership in the movement for social reform is inconsistent with its historical and philosophical background. The relatively nonactivist professional of the 1980s exists in stark contrast with the turn-of-the-century reformers. A major characteristic of social workers of yesteryear were their efforts to direct the public toward social injustice, whereas a frequently noted characteristic of social work since the 1970s is its failure to speak out about the inadequacies of welfare and other programs in urban communities as well as in the rest of the United States. Clearly, the profession's apparent reticence to address social problems that undermine the self-respect and morale of the individual is incongruent with its belief in the dignity and worth of human beings. Regardless of the reasons for it, the price of the inaction of the 1980s was a bitter one to pay in terms of cumulative effects, as evidenced by the following examples: * Between 1981 and 1989 federal expenditures for subsidized housing and the number of federal housing starts decreased more than 80 percent (Applebaum, 1989). * In 1981 the federal government spent $7 on defense for every $1 spent on housing; by the end of President Ronald Reagan's second term, $46 went toward defense for every $1 going toward housing, an increase of 557 percent (Applebaum, 1989). * Tax law changes implemented in 1981 doubled the tax rates for poor Americans (Gottschalk, 1984). * Between 1978 and 1990 the total number of people living in poverty increased from 25.5 million to 33.6 million, representing an increase of almost 32 percent (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1992). Add to these facts the state of the U.S. economy: 1982 marked the greatest recession since the Great Depression, its depth "leaving a legacy of reduced family incomes, higher poverty rates, damaged economic status of historically disadvantaged groups, and decreased job opportunities in the traditionally high-paying manufacturing sector" (Fox, 1989, p. …

Social workers in many settings find themselves providing services to clients characterized as Hispanics or Latinos, a group with which they may have had little experience. Although the literature makes frequent reference to Hispanics as a very diverse group, there has been little discussion of the socially important differences and similarities among Hispanics and how these differences and similarities may affect the provision of services. Instead, discussions about the provision of social services to Hispanic people often quickly focus on cultural attributes taken as common among subgroups, primarily Mexican Americans (or Chicanos), Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. Questions that may arise in the mind of the practitioner are, What is the Hispanic population? If subgroups are diverse, in what ways are they diverse, and in what ways are they similar? What does it mean for culturally and racially diverse peoples to be perceived as members of a single ethnic group, and what are the implications of a client's ascription to this diverse group for practice? Hispanic clients pose increasing challenges for social workers. This already large group is growing rapidly, and indicators such as age distribution and low median income levels indicate a rapidly increasing need for social services. The high numbers of recent immigrants, who often have limited English (Moore & Pachon, 1985) and experience a host of cultural factors that differentiate them from others in the population, add to the complexity of the challenge. This article profiles the Hispanic/Latino population in the United States. It very briefly places the interactions of this group in the context of contemporary theories of ethnicity and discusses the diversity and similarities among members of the Hispanic/Latino group by examining key social features. The common experience of ascription to an ethnic minority in the United States has served as a primary unifying force that gave impetus--in a bidirectional process with state institutions--to the creation and maintenance of the Hispanic/Latino group. Hispanics: A Statistical Profile In April 1990, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, there were approximately 22 million people of Hispanic origin (referred to as Hispanics in the census literature) living in the United States out of a total population of 248.7 million. Hispanics, with 9.0 percent of the population, constituted the second largest minority group in the country after black Americans, with 12.1 percent. Because some census respondents identified themselves as both black and Hispanic, however, non-Hispanic blacks are only 11.8 percent of the nation's population. Furthermore, although census estimates are not available, the general assumption is that Hispanics are more likely to be undercounted than non-Hispanics (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991b, 1991c, 1991d). The social needs of Hispanics are underlined by their standing in four social indexes: 1. poverty: In 1992, 26.2 percent of Hispanic families had incomes below the poverty level, compared with 10.3 percent of non-Hispanic families. Twelve percent of the children in the United States were Hispanic in 1992, but 21 percent of the children living in poverty were Hispanic; of all Hispanic children, 39.9 percent lived in poverty in 1992 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993a). 2. income: The 1992 median income of non-Hispanic white households ($33,388) was 46.1 percent higher than that of Hispanic households ($22,848) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993b). 3. family composition: Hispanics had a higher ratio of single-parent families (30 percent) than non-Hispanics (20 percent), and the ratio rose to 43 percent for the Puerto Rican-origin Hispanic subgroup (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991a). 4. demographics: The Hispanic population is young compared with non-Hispanics, with median ages in 1990 of 26.0 and 33.5 years, respectively; 30 percent of Hispanics and 21 percent of non-Hispanics are less than 15 years of age. …

Yes, there is another way. I went to Norway to teach American methods of alcoholism treatment and to learn of life in a welfare state. My stay of almost two years informed me in the way that firsthand experience informs--rudely, indelibly. My family and I have experienced the Norwegian community--the schools, social services, the health care system. And I have come to see how each dimension is connected to every other dimension of the cultural whole. In the high quality of life in Norway is the key to the larger pattern. To the American visitor, the lack of poverty is striking, even puzzling. The outsider is inclined to see what is in terms of what is not: the southerner noting, for instance, the complete absence of palm trees. The Norwegian, meanwhile, is aware neither of the lack of poverty nor the absence of palm trees. To understand the lack of poverty, you have to first understand poverty. And I am speaking of poverty in a rich society, there being no need to explain poverty in the absence of resources. The sociologists of the 1960s conceived of the existence of poverty in a prosperous society as functional for the total community. What were the social functions of poverty? (For a literature review, see Blau, 1988.) Poverty or the threat of poverty provided a steady pool of compliant workers; poverty provided jobs for bureaucrats who were to ameliorate the poverty; the poverty of some provided for a natural division of classes. The existence of poverty in America is consistent with teachings of the Protestant ethic and the survival-of-the-fittest mentality. Whereas Americans think individually, Norwegians tend to think collectively. Whereas Americans value competition, Norwegians value cooperation. The thesis of this article is that poverty persists in the United States because our values say it will persist. It does not persist in Norway because the society chooses not to tolerate it. This article examines the general economic conditions in Norway and views them against the Norwegian cultural context--values of egalitarianism and the collective will, trust in the social system, and above all a tradition of kindness to the weaker members of society. Implications for the United States and for American social workers are drawn. Norwegian Economy Norway is a socialist country in terms of social policy but a capitalist nation in terms of the ownership of business. Because of Norwegian control of North Sea oil industries, a great deal of wealth is available to the nation. This fact helps compensate for the poor agricultural conditions--rocky, mountainous land and a short growing season. Personal income taxes in Norway are among the highest in the world. The higher the income, the higher the percentage of taxes paid. The value-added tax is a sales tax of 20 percent on virtually all items sold. Consequently, food and services are extremely expensive in Norway. Income differences across occupational groups are relatively slight. Virtually no group of employees earns more than twice the average earnings of all employees (Selbyg, 1987). The equalization of income is a reality in Norway. Poverty Official estimates put the percentage of people living in poverty at 16.0 percent in the United States and 4.8 percent in Norway (Zimbalist, 1988). In fact, these figures were based on relative income in each country. My personal impression is that the gap between poverty in the United States and Norway is much higher than the numbers indicate. Even in my work with alcoholics, I did not come across one truly impoverished person. When an individual gets into economic trouble, the state provides help. Statistics on poverty thus do not portray the reality in a cradle-to-grave, highly protective society. Kohlert's (1989) description of the universalism philosophy in welfare is pertinent to Norway. Universalism views those in need as no different from other people. …

The construction of social definitions is important, as these definitions are ultimately translated into public policies. This article explores the emergence of the concepts of the advantaged elder and the feminization of poverty. It is a paradox that society has simultaneously embraced these two concepts when the elderly population, especially the subpopulation of those who are very old, is overwhelmingly women. The theoretical shortcomings of both concepts are examined, and a broader model of economic well-being that emphasizes the interactive nature of gender, race, and class is proposed. The implications of societal perceptions of the advantaged elder and the feminization of poverty for older women are addressed.

The first time I can remember thinking about hunger was in Sunday school in the First Methodist Church in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. I was eight or nine years old. I was asked to bring a can of food to church the next week for the orphans in the Methodist Children's Home. I remember selecting a dusty can of sauerkraut from our pantry and wrapping it in white tissue paper. I remember placing it proudly on the altar during the worship service. Over the next few years I suppose my mother told me numerous times to clean up my plate and think about the starving children in China. I am sure that I and my five sisters must have offered--in voices just low enough that our mother couldn't hear us--to send to the Chinese children whatever food had not caught our fancy. It wasn't until Christmas 1962 that I began to have any understanding of what hunger meant to real people. That December I visited Southside Settlement in Columbus, Ohio. As it turned out, I eventually worked in that social services agency for more than 10 years. But that Christmas I was just a visitor. The settlement was busy preparing Christmas baskets for poor people, and I was pressed into service. One of my jobs was to strip Christmas wrappings off several hundred cans of food and group the cans according to contents so we could pack something resembling a meal into each basket of food we would distribute. It's depressing to try to create Christmas dinner out of corn, peas, pumpkin, hominy, and six kinds of beans. I began to think in a new light about the charitable can of sauerkraut I had donated with such self-satisfaction as a child. Over the years I worked at the Settlement House, I grew to understand the shame felt by people who were forced to feed their kids with food discarded from the pantries of others. I saw the pain on the faces of the unemployed fathers standing in line three days before Christmas to sign up for charity. I began to understand why poor people themselves donated to the Christmas basket program. Sometimes, they donated cans of surplus government food gaily wrapped to disguise the contents--and their own poverty. In a season when we expect happiness and peace, I saw mothers fight over the single turkey or the few canned hams to be shared among 200 families. Gradually, Christmas charity at the settlement became a little less painful. Cans were replaced by cash. Parents could buy the ingredients of a Christmas dinner at the grocery store like anyone else. But in spite of every effort of the Settlement House to make its charity more humane, the people who needed help still saw themselves as beggars. The pain of being reduced to seeking charity to feed one's children was very real. Too often, justice was the ingredient missing from the Christmas meal. I am convinced that we can--and that we must--end hunger in the United States. This is just one piece of the puzzle, of course. The problems of Kurdish refugees in Iraq and Iran, recurring disasters in Bangladesh, and persistence of war- and drought-related food shortages in the Horn of Africa also deserve our attention. I believe we must take a global perspective. Fortunately, there are people around the globe willing and able to meet the challenge. Charity and Justice In our society, our first response to hunger tends to be to provide charity. We are a generous people who believe everybody should be able to eat. Our farms yield enormous surpluses. We share our individual cans and our agricultural bounty with those less fortunate. During the past decade, there has been an unprecedented outpouring of community-based and church- and synagogue-supported charity in towns and cities across America aimed at helping hungry children and their families. Periodically our newspapers are filled with accounts of scouts, school children, and service clubs collecting food for needy people. We might even read about a restaurant or two that open their doors on Thanksgiving Day to provide free turkey dinners to some of our hungry neighbors. …